Fiber deflector



May 15, 1956 R. c. YOUNG ET AL FIBER DEFLECTOR Filed Dec. 2, 1952 INVENTOR R.C. YOUNG R.A. RUSCA ATTORNEY FIBER DEFLECTOR Ray C. Young and Ralph A. Rusca, New Orleans, La., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture Application December 2, 1952, Serial No. 323,737

7 1 Claim. (Cl. 19-93) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license in the invention herein described, for all governmental purposes, throughout the world, with the power to grant sublicenses for such purposes, is hereby granted to the Government of the United States of America.

This invention relates to fiber working machines for processing staple textile fibers such as wool, flax, jute, synthetic fibers and the like. More particularly, the invention provides junctions between the revolving shafts of cylinders and the like processing units and the walls of suction flues enclosing portions of such shafts. The junctions provided prevent the rotating shafts from acting upon the fibers to cause rolling, twisting and/ or nepping of the fibers, or choking due to the entrainment of fibers around the shaft.

Heretofore, in order to reduce the action of revolving shafts upon fibers, the junctions between the shafts and walls of suction flues were sealed with sheepskin pads, gaskets, anti-friction flange bearings and the like to prevent the fibers from entangling on the shafts and to prevent the intake of air at the junction around the shafts. The devices heretofore used were subject to wear and thus required frequent maintenance. The heat generated by the friction of resilient materials, such as leather, rubbing against moving parts introduced a fire hazard.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a junction, between a revolving shaft and the wall of a suction flue, which prevents the revolving shaft from acting upon the fibers and which involves no contact between moving and non-moving parts; and thus to provide a frictionless junction which eliminates the hazard of fire and the need for frequent maintenance. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

In general, the shaft junction provided by this invention comprises a disc-shaped radial extension of the shaft protruding into a circular opening in the flue wall. The disc-shaped shaft extension has a diameter large enough to cause materials on its peripheral surface to be thrown off by centrifugal force, and the opening in the flue wall hasa diameter larger than that of the shaft extension by an amount sufficient to allow enough air to enter around the periphery of the shaft extension to convey fibers.

The shaft junctions provided by this invention are particularly adapted for use on cotton working machines of the type described in U. S. 2,365,793, especially when such machines are fitted with improved dofli'ers of the type described in U. S. 2,607,958 and/or with improved suction flues of the type described in co-pending applica tion, Serial No. 263,948, filed December 28, 1951. However, while the invention is described and illustrated in detail with respect to the above uses, it can be used in conjunction with any revolving shaft which pierces the wall of a chamber through which fibers are conveyed by suction-induced air currents.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts removed, of a cotton working machine of the type described in U. S.

2,365,793 (cylinder 10 of Figure l correspondsto one of the plurality of cylinders numbered 16 to 19 on the drawing of the patent) fitted with the improved doifers and lines mentioned above and fitted with the shaft junction provided by this invention.

Figure 2 is an oblique elevation, with parts removed, of the same embodiment of this invention.

In the embodiment. illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the disc-shaped radial extension of the shaft, disc 5, is attached to shaft 6 of 'dotfer 7. Shaft 6 is rotatively- I mounted in bearings not shown.

Disc 5 can be made of substantially any structural material. It canbeattached to shaft 6 by substantially any conventional means such as sweating, screwing, welding, or belting, or it can be a portion of shaft 6, and is designed to provide a relatively smooth peripheral surface. Doifer 7 is enclosed in suction flue 8. Disc 5 extends into circular opening 9 in the wall of flue 8. As shown in Figure 2, disc 5 has an unbroken annular surface extending radially from the shaft to the periphery and a peripheral surface extendin axially the width of the disc.

As such a cotton working machine operates, cotton fibers caught on the teeth of cylinder 10 are removed by the teeth of doifer 7 and are centrifugally thrown into suction flue 8. Air enters flue 8 primarily through inlet 11 and the front part of the cotton working machine, and is drawn along past dofier 7 by a suction means not shown. Certain amounts of fibers, fly, and short fibers pass between the end of doffer 7 and the wall of flue 8. Such materials which alight on the surface of disc 5 are thrown off by centrifugal force as the disc rotates in con junction with shaft 6 of doifer 7. The materialsso thrown off the surface of disc 5 are conveyed into the main stream of particles and air within flue 8 by the air entering opening 9.

The dimensions of the disc-shaped extension 5 of revolving shaft can be varied widely as long as its diameter is suflicient to cause materials which alight on its surface to be thrown off by centrifugal force, and as long as it is wide enough to protrude into the opening in the flue wall. A diameter suflicient to subject particles on the peripheral surfaces of the shaft extensions to a centrifugal force of about dynes is preferred. The relation'between the centrifugal force (Po), the revolutions per second (n) of the shaft extensions, the radius (r) of the shaft extensions, and the mass (m) of the particles on the peripheral surface of the shaft extensions, is expressed by the equation Fc==44r n rm. The diameter of a shaft extension best suited for use on a given fiber working machine can readily be determined in accordance with the above equation. For example, in the cotton working machine illustrated, the doffers are generally run at' about 1200 R. P. M. (20 R. P. S.) and the lighter tufts of fibers which tend to become entangled on rotating shafts in the suction flue have a mass of about 0.001 gram. Therefore a disc-shaped shaft extension having a diameter suificient to subject materials on its peripheral surface to a centrifugal force of about 75 dynes has a radius or 4.74 centimeters, or a diameter of about 3.8 inches. The disc-shaped shaft extensions are preferably wide enough to extend substantially through the opening in the walls of the flues.

The diameter of the circular opening 9 in the flue wall, can be varied widely depending upon the fibers being worked and the amount of suction used in the flue. In the case of cotton working machines, a ratio of about 1.1 to 1 for the diameter of the opening in the flue wall to the diameter of the shaft extension is preferred. De-

creasing the amountby which the diameter in the opening of the flue wall exceeds that of the shaft extension reduces the volume of 'air entering around the periphery of the shaft extension but increases the velocity of the air which does enter. 7

We claim:

A cotton working machine comprising a suction flue provided with circular openings in its side walls; horizontally-disposed rotatable cylinders including a cotton working cylinder and a doffer Within the flue, said dofier being provided with a shaft whose ends extend through each of said circular openings in the flue; and a discshaped radial extension on the portion of the shaft within each of said circular openings, the extension being provided with an unbroken annular surface extending radially from the shaft to the peripheral edge of said extension, said extension being further provided with a smooth peripheral surface extending axially the width of the disc, the diameter of said disc-shaped radial extension being large enough to cause fiber particles coming in contact References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 16,488 Keith Jan. 27, 1857 373,075 Kitson Nov. 15, 1887 2,549,223 Moody Apr. 17, 1951 

